Perhaps you met her name in the list of members of the Belarusian Union of Composers? Or maybe they saw it on the stage of the Belarusian State Philharmonic? Have you heard her work on the radio, in church, at the Kinemo silent film festival? No? Then - a pleasant acquaintance with the composer, organist and teacher Olga Podgaiskaya.

Feel the present

- I can say that few people in Belarus are engaged in modern academic music. For some reason, for the compilers of concert programs, modernity is impressionism. He is the maximum, the approximate flow, which, in their opinion, can be done on stage. Great, Debussy! But he created a century ago! Modernity still exists only for units. I have repeatedly faced the fact that concert organizers are afraid to saturate the audience with the latest music. I remember when I was a student, when I was asked to do something from the work of Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke heard: "You are crazy! Don't scare the listeners! ” Later, when organ concerts began for the Cathedral of the Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church of St. Roch on Golden Hill, I managed to do something: for example, ninety percent - baroque music, and finally - one modern work. Tonal, melodic, spiritual, but… modern. Over time, more and more new songs were added to the program. As a result, concerts in the same churches, but already fully prepared by young composers. And you know, everything was great. Contemporary music is also an art. And art should not try to explain, it should be felt. This is evidenced by the activities of the band "Sanorus", led by Alexander Humala - another fan, a great preacher of new music. The team gathers full halls - and no misunderstandings, complaints…

For some time I lived in Poland, and compared to ours there the state of affairs in the music field is much better. Large sums of money are spent on the development and popularization of young Polish composers. There are regular music festivals ("Warsaw Autumn", for example), and individual projects, and small student evenings of modern music (so far I do not imagine a similar event at our conservatory). However, I went to concerts almost every day… You know, classical music is the basis, it must be performed. But preferring only the recognized, we stand still. The stereotypes and fears that surround modern music are born of ignorance. And yet - from bad taste. As long as the money is spent on low-quality pop, you should not hope for a breakthrough.

Synthesis of theater and music

- The avant-garde does not shock, does not frighten, does not embarrass. The roar, the rustle of paper is no longer surprising. Impressive synthesis of music and visual advice. Sometimes a very simple, melodic work sounds on the stage, and the impressions are unforgettable, bright. Such "simplicity" fascinates… I am very pleased to recall joint projects with the Brest Independent Theater "Wings of a Servant", which works interestingly with the technique of alternative and street theaters. And I am very pleased that in Minsk there are such sites as "Building", "Gallery" "," "OK16". Thanks to them, it became possible for musicians to co-author with artists, directors and writers. At least, I got the opportunity to organize events with writers Andrei Khadanovich, Viktor Zhibul, Vera Burlak…

Specifics

- This year the open-air festival of silent cinema and modern music "Kinemo", which was held in the museum-workshop of Z. Azgur, was held for the seventh time. I remember when the festival was just beginning, we were approached by people who confessed: “We didn’t even know that there are such interesting young composers in Belarus. They thought that the creators were only Bach, Beethoven, Mozart… ”. Viewers have begun to follow those who write music for movies, and now the authors have a special audience: some choose films based on music created by a favorite master.

There are difficulties in writing music for silent films: to show the director's personality and reveal the composer's identity at the same time, to keep the balance between the director's concept and one's own idea. This year I had to work on Axel Lundin's "The Adventures of Half a Ruble" and Ernst Murman's "Monsieur Phantomas." In "Phantom", despite the many comic cases, a lot of sadness. It seems that the director feels sorry for the protagonist, empathizes with his failed search for love. It was important for me to show that behind the fun lies compassion. "Monsieur Phantomas" is definitely not a horror movie…

The next "Kinemo", as usual, will be held in June - July, but we, the composers, will start preparing for the festival in September. The selection of material is carried out by the project "Cinemascope". Usually musicians are offered several paintings in guest genres. And then - the choice of one film and… music that depends only on us.

Don't be banal

- In the Minsk Music School музы 3 named after F. Chopin, I lead the ensemble of young composers "Frederick", which includes instrumentalists from seven to fourteen years. Children get into the team differently: someone is brought by teachers ("Plays anything, but not the program!"), Someone - parents ("All day writing something for the instrument!"), In some tendencies I notice myself (it happens that children do not guess about their abilities). I listen, and if the works of beginners have a quality appropriate to the age, we start working: we stay after lessons, listen, record, and at the end of the quarter we organize events… Press,